1: The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru
by rwparker
Summary: Rin, like all little girls, eventually grows up. A tale of a unique bond between a father and a daughter, swords of life and death, choice and sacrifice. Sesshomaru...do you wish to learn the secret of ultimate power?
1. Go Ask Kagome

**Note: **This story was written a year before the breaking of Toukijin in manga episode #400 (or thereabouts), so canon has drifted away from this story since it was created.

Oh well.

I never changed it because the events in this story turned out to be the seeds of a fifty-thousand-word tetralogy, and because the central moments in this story had repercussions that were fully manifest only in the final volume. I did make a couple of changes to bring the story in line with manga issue 471. However, I do take some comfort in the way that the canon changes in Sesshomaru were so similar to my own choices...that somehow, something finally convinced him to think of someone other than himself.

Let's just call it an "alternative universe," like that Star Trek episode where Spock had a beard and Sulu was ever so evil. But isn't all fanfiction a celebration of those alternate realities?

Enjoy.

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru**

Go Ask Kagome

As the years passed, Rin grew into a stunningly beautiful young woman: slender, graceful, and nearly as tall as Sesshomaru. Her hair was as long as Sesshomaru's, but black as the night, as dark as his was white. Despite the dour moods of her youkai guardians, she never lost the joy and grace that she had had as a child. Not a day passed that she did not pick flowers for her hair; from time to time she would sneak one or two into Jaken's staff or even his hat, much to his loud objections. And if she found any that were especially lovely, she would weave a garland for Sesshomaru. She never offered them to him directly, but would hang them on Aun's left side, the side at which Sesshomaru walked, without saying a word to anyone; and although Sesshomaru never acknowledged her gifts, he never walked far from the great beast's side when his garland was there.

Although she never acquired Sesshomaru's haughty disdain, she did learn many valuable lessons from him: patience, calmness in the face of danger, and the ability to fully focus her mind and spirit at need. And like her guardian, her eyes and ears missed nothing, so she saw and heard far deeper than most. She also learned Sesshomaru's implacable stare, which could freeze the very blood of anyone upon whom it was turned. She and Jaken once ran into a small pack of human children, who (as children often do) tried to make fun of her and her strange companion; only a moment of that withering glare convinced them that Rin was not to be trifled with.

Rin never needed "raising," as we would think of it—throughout sun and rain, both easy times and hard, she remained unfailingly polite, cheery, and always the perfect traveling companion. But like all children, she grew. Jaken and Sesshomaru, being much longer lived than humans, and never having any previous interest in the species, had no experience whatsoever in the myriad and rapid changes that children go through—especially the way they increase in size. Jaken was baffled by it; Sesshomaru evinced no interest whatsoever (he did find it quietly amusing, although he would have killed anyone who even suggested that he did).

Eventually, Rin began to ask the intimate questions that every young woman needs answered. She never thought of broaching the subject with Sesshomaru, thinking (quite correctly) that not only would he be utterly uninterested in the questions themselves, but also that he had absolutely no desire to waste his time or energy on knowing the answers. So, as she often did, she turned to Jaken. Most of the time, he showed no interest at all in Rin, or muttered derisively about her "frivolous" singing and laughter. Of course, despite his professed disinterest, he always kept a close watch on her, fearing what Sesshomaru would do to him if anything should happen to the girl while she was in his care; and on those few occasions when she needed a wound tended, or if she was cold and lonely at night, Jaken could be surprisingly supportive and gentle—although he would deny it loudly if you ever pointed it out to him.

One night, as they sat around the fire roasting their dinner, Rin casually began peppering Jaken with a list of rather personal questions, in the direct and piercing way that only the truly innocent can. After only a few moments, Jaken actually blushed—quite a feat for someone of his complexion—until he was nearly as pink as Rin was. Eventually, he regained enough composure to take control of the conversation; he puffed out his chest and haughtily proclaimed, "Such minor details are beneath the concern of a person of my station as a retainer to Sesshomaru-sama. Go ask a human." Suddenly, he saw the easy way out of his dilemma: "Go ask Kagome!"

And so it was, the next time that the three of them met Kagome and her companions, Rin ran joyfully up to Kagome, greeted her warmly, and then it began: "Jaken-sama said that I should ask you..." and out came one very pointed question after another. As Rin spoke, Kagome turned pink, then purple, then several more colors that none of her friends had ever seen a human turn before.

When Rin's interrogation had run its course, Kagome gasped for breath and struggled to regain her composure. Then she whirled on Jaken, towering over him with an expression of rage that was deadlier than any he had ever seen on Sesshomaru. "So...JAKEN told you to ask me, did he?" Jaken recoiled with a barrage of stuttered apologies, and hastily began looking for cover.

Sango quickly stepped in, concerned for both of them. "Kagome-chan, are you all right?"

Inuyasha, as usual, had no idea what was going on; he didn't understand either Rin's questions or Kagome's reaction. Bluntly as always, he asked, "Yeah, Kagome, we're all waiting. What's the deal?"

At that, Kagome simply snapped. She shut her eyes, balled her fists, and screamed, "OSUWARI!" Inuyasha gave a strangled cry as his beads pulled him down with an earth-shaking "thud." Kagome whirled towards Rin, who was quite bewildered by all the noise and by Kagome's extreme reaction; but by the time she had come about, Kagome had put on her sunniest, cheeriest smile, and she took Rin gently by the hand. Kagome cooed sweetly, "Come, Rin-chan, let's go over here and talk about it!" She winked conspiratorially. "Just us girls. OK?" So off they went, and they sat in the shade of a tree that was a respectable distance from the others.

Inuyasha painfully extracted himself from the hanyou-shaped depression that his beads had dug him into, and on rising found himself face-to-face with his brother—never something that pleased him in the slightest. Miroku, hoping to fend off a confrontation, quickly interposed himself between the two brothers, beaming with his most winning smile. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, let's not forget that we're here for Rin-chan. Let's put aside old quarrels for now—why don't we sit down and have a nice cup of tea?" Miroku looked from one to the other: Inuyasha was dusting himself off with one hand, gnashing his teeth, and slowly inching his other hand towards his sword; Sesshomaru responded to Inuyasha's veiled threats as always with only his icy, unfathomable stare.

"Ah—well then," said Miroku. Under the circumstances, he thought, a graceful withdrawal was the wiser course of action. "Perhaps we'll skip the tea."

Fortunately, for once Inuyasha didn't feel like starting a fight with his brother, so he stormed off in the direction of the tree under which Kagome and Rin were sitting. "I don't see what the big deal about all this is," he fumed. "I'm going over there and I'm going to find out what's going on RIGHT NOW."

Miroku grabbed his arm. "Inuyasha, that wouldn't be wise."

Inuyasha shook him off, and again started stomping towards the girls, only to be stopped in his tracks by a hard "bonk" from Sango's boomerang. "Hey Sango," he protested, rubbing his head, "What's the deal...?"

Somehow, Sango seemed to have grown several feet taller; she appeared to be ringed with cold blue flames, and a chilly wind blew through her every word.

"Inuyasha. That. Wouldn't. Be. Wise."

"Ah...well then." Miroku jumped in again, with another cheery smile; if anyone knew how unwise it was to cross Sango in these moments, it was Miroku. "Why don't we have lunch a little early? I don't think Kagome-sama will object if we help ourselves to what she's brought."

The thought of instant ramen mollified Inuyasha, and they opened Kagome's knapsack and began unpacking their picnic. While they were getting everything ready, Miroku sneaked a look at Kagome and Rin, deep in conversation. Kagome was smiling prettily and sitting at her most primly straight, holding forth with a very professional demeanor and occasionally gesturing or drawing on the ground with a stick; Rin was wide-eyed in rapt attention, nodding vigorously each time that Kagome made some important point.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was sniffing through the various instant noodles, searching for the hottest curry. Putting on his most innocent face, he offered the curry noodles to Jaken. "Try these: they're my favorite." He snickered to himself as the unsuspecting Jaken allowed himself to be talked into trying them.

Jaken had never tried Kagome's "ninja food;" but much to everyone's surprise and everyone except Inuyasha's delight, Jaken found hot curry completely to his liking, and finished it off with glee. He was effusive in its praise. "These are absolutely astounding—a dish worthy of Sesshomaru-sama himself!" At the mention of his name, they all turned expectantly towards Sesshomaru, but he merely snorted and turned his back.

"Oh well," Miroku sighed. "We tried. But perhaps Kagome-sama and Rin-chan would like lunch too?" He started to get up.

Sango quickly stopped him. "Don't even think of going over there, Houshi-sama!" she snapped. Then, straightening her hair, she continued, "I mean, 'I'll take care of them.'" She headed off with a cup of noodles in each hand. Presently, Miroku realized that she hadn't returned; when he looked to see what had happened to her, he saw that Sango was now kneeling next to Rin, staring at Kagome with the same wide-eyed expression of rapt attention; now and again, both Sango and Rin nodded in unison whenever Kagome made some important point.

Lunch finished, the men lounged on the grass, trying not to appear too interested in the women's activities. Inuyasha, as always, was impatient. "Keh. What ARE they talking about?" He leaned backwards and twitched his ears towards the women, trying to catch part of their conversation, but quickly swiveled them back after a rock thrown by the sharp-eyed Sango barely missed his head.

Miroku sighed. "I'm beginning to think that there are some things that man—or should I say, 'men'—are just not meant not to know." Inuyasha muttered something obscene under his breath, but didn't get up.

As the sun began to sink in the west and the shadows were just starting to lengthen, Kagome, Rin, and Sango returned from their session under the tree. "Well, everything is just fine now, isn't it, Rin-chan?" Kagome chirped in her sunniest voice. Rin nodded happily.

Sesshomaru spoke for the first time. "Rin. Are you finished?" She smiled and nodded. "Then let's go." Without another word, he turned and began walking away.

Rin smiled and waved happily. "I'll never forget this, Kagome-aneue! Thank you so very much!" With one last smile, she skipped after Sesshomaru.

Jaken looked over his shoulder to see that Sesshomaru was still within earshot, and then puffed himself up to his most officious shape. "You should consider yourselves fortunate that Sesshomaru-sama has seen fit to grant you so much time. Never before have I ever seen him show such benevolence! And I must say, it's certainly more than you deserve!" He continued chiding them until he was sure that Sesshomaru was well on his way; then, he prostrated himself at Kagome's feet. "I am forever in your debt. Words can never express the depth of my gratitude." ("Or your relief," Kagome muttered to herself.) Jaken rose, bowed once more, and hurried after Sesshomaru and Rin.

Miroku sidled up to Sango as she waved to the departing Rin. "So, Sango...what did Kagome-sama tell you?"

Sango pulled herself up regally, and chided Miroku, "That's a secret between us girls—right, Kagome-chan?" The girls smiled and winked chummily at each other. After Kagome had turned away, Sango gave Miroku a sultry sidelong glance, and then whispered duskily, her breath caressing his ear: "If you're good, maybe I'll tell you some day." A chill ran up his back, but whether from excitement or terror, he couldn't tell.

Inuyasha smiled coyly at Kagome, and asked, "So...if _I'm_ good, will you tell _me_ someday?"

Kagome turned up her nose. "Pervert. OSUWARI!"


	2. Sesshomaru's Choice

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru **

Sesshomaru's Choice

As you can imagine, Sesshomaru didn't have anyone he might call a friend (aside from Rin, who adored him, and Jaken, who worshipped him). Current or former slaves, casual acquaintances, or allies of convenience who had survived their mutual adventures: he treated everyone with equal disdain. Those few who had crossed swords with him and lived to tell about it loathed him beyond measure. One day, there came a gathering of Sesshomaru's old enemies: panther demons who still held a grudge against the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru's father, and hated Sesshomaru doubly for having crushed their hopes of resurrecting their own leader; ogres whom Sesshomaru had first enslaved, then tossed aside when he tired of them; and many other vile creatures who had run afoul of Sesshomaru and wanted revenge.

Their gathering began with much boasting and many glasses raised to a glorious victory over their hated enemy, but soon they were forced to admit that against Sesshomaru's power, they stood very little chance. Those who had escaped his wrath with their lives had only barely done so, and were loath to face him head-to-head again. One of the uglier multi-tentacled demons had been grumbling about "that little human he keeps as a pet," and suddenly, an idea was born: while Sesshomaru himself was all but invincible, a little human girl was another matter. A swarthy, battle-scarred panther demoness pounded the table. "Sesshomaru took from us that which we valued most," she growled, "and we shall do the same to him. He will feel her life draining through his fingers, and he will know that we did it. As long as he lives, our revenge cannot be complete; but with her death, at least it can be sweet." And thus they were resolved, and they began to lay their plans.

* * *

It was a warm summer's evening. Aun had been left to wander and graze; Sesshomaru was away, doing—well, whatever it was he that he did on such journeys (Rin didn't inquire, and Sesshomaru didn't talk about it). Rin and Jaken were catching fish for their evening meal, with Rin splashing and laughing happily upstream, while Jaken (occasionally) caught the fish that she herded in his direction, or (usually) landed empty-handed and face-first in the river, spitting water and gasping for breath. Rin felt it first—an odd rumbling in the ground, which she first thought was a distant earthquake, but which grew louder and closer with each passing moment. Suddenly, coming at them at a terrifying speed, they saw the source of the sound: a great legion of demons led by a monstrous ogre, who was pushing a huge boulder down the river directly at them. The boulder scooped up the water in its path, and created a huge torrent of water and river rock that shot upwards and forwards. Rin and Jaken both screamed, sure that they would be swept away by the torrent created by the onrushing demons, or crushed beneath the weight of the water or the huge stone. 

Diving like a great bird of prey, Sesshomaru flashed down from on high. He swept up Rin under his arm, and in a flash bounded away from the demon hoard. Jaken, however, was washed away by the wall of water being forced aloft by the ogre's boulder. "Sesshomaru-sama! Save me! Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken's plaintive scream rose above the roar of the water and the pounding of demon feet. Sesshomaru appeared to pay no attention, bounding instead towards a small hill that was well clear of the demon charge, with Rin tucked firmly under his arm. Upon reaching high ground, he gently set Rin down, and with a single motion drew Toukijin and fired a tremendous blast at the retreating demons.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken had managed to scramble his way up the ogre's stone to look over the heads of the demon mob—and he saw not the arrival of his master that he had hoped for, but Toukijin's blast, rapidly overtaking the demons. "No, master! Kill THEM—not ME!" Jaken screamed, then scrambled for cover just in time; Sesshomaru's blast struck, with enough force to blow the entire hoard high into the air. Jaken soon found himself at the bottom of a very large pile of very dead demons, struggling vainly to free himself from the immense pile of rubble and bodies.

(And although Jaken didn't realize it at the time, Sesshomaru had indeed saved him, both from his current predicament and from the battle that was to follow; his blow was so skillful that he dealt death to the attacking demons without touching Jaken, and had safely buried him somewhere that the enemy wouldn't think to look for him.)

Sesshomaru didn't have much time to admire his handiwork; only moments after he had saved Jaken, he was busy defending himself and Rin. He was beset by demons beyond number, attacking in wave after wave from all sides, with every sort of weapon imaginable. Sesshomaru responded in a beautiful but deadly ballet, parrying, attacking, counter-attacking: each stroke flowing seamlessly into the next. Rin had never seen anything so powerful, so terrifying, or so beautiful, but she had little opportunity to admire her guardian. She could only cower on the ground, covering her head and wincing as debris, weapons, and energy bolts whizzed about her.

Sesshomaru's sensitive hearing began to make sense of the incoherent hisses of the attacking demons. They seemed to be saying the same thing, over and over again, and suddenly, he understood them: "Get the girl. Get the girl. Get the girl." When he realized who was the real target of the demon's attack, his eyes glowed red with rage, and he threw back his head and gave a terrible roar. Something changed in the way he was beating back the demon attacks; his cadence of counterstrokes did not vary, but now, instead of simply disappearing in Sesshomaru's energy blasts, the attacking demons were set ablaze with cold green fire, and they burned to death very slowly—and, if their cries were any indication—very painfully. The sheer cruelty of Sesshomaru's new counterattack took the demons aback, and they pulled back to regroup.

After the attackers withdrew, Sesshomaru sunk to his knees, panting with exertion. Rin had never seen Sesshomaru wearied by a battle before. She knelt before him, and for the first time in her life, she reached out to him, taking him gently by the shoulders, and looked him squarely in the eyes. She had never touched him like this before; his eyes widened, his normally unreadable expression revealing his puzzlement.

"I heard them too," she said gravely. "They're only after me…they don't want you. You stay here…_I_ will go to them." Sesshomaru gasped audibly—he was completely taken aback. In his tremendously long life, he had been threatened, cajoled, bargained with, pleaded with; but never had anyone offered themselves to save him. He started to speak, but Rin silenced him by throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek to his. "I know that Tenseiga can't save me again. I know that if I die, I die. I don't care," she whispered, her voice brave but shaking. "You have saved my life more times than I can count. This time…let me save you." A single tear gently slid down her cheek, and the drop touched his skin, and ran down the crease where her cheek touched his.

Suddenly Tenseiga startled them both, shaking more violently than it ever had before. Sesshomaru pulled away from Rin to look at the sword, and Tenseiga throbbed with energy, vibrating so hard that it beat its sheath against the ground where Sesshomaru knelt. He grasped the hilt; and immediately, silence roared in his ears, and he couldn't feel his own pulse: time itself seemed to have come to a stop. A mist arose before his eyes, and from the mist came a deep and melodious voice: "Sesshomaru: would you know the secret of ultimate power?"

Sesshomaru nearly gasped with shock. He only managed to get out one word: "Father...?"

The mist slowly coalesced into the face of the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru's father, whom he had not seen since the evening that his father was killed saving the newborn Inuyasha. His father's golden eyes peered deeply into Sesshomaru's. "Humans are frail, weak things," his father continued, "but they are born with a power that we youkai can only dream of having. To protect their loved ones, humans will give everything they have, even their own lives—and in giving everything they have, they find strength beyond imagination."

His father paused a moment, then spoke intensely. "You have always been angry that I gave Tessaiga to Inuyasha, a hanyou. You have never forgiven him for my death, because I gave my life to save him and his mother. You have always hated him for his human side, and you have never felt that he was worthy of the power that I granted him. But had I given Tessaiga to you, you would have eventually grown tired of even its great power, and you never would have found your own true strength. Instead, I gave Tessaiga to Inuyasha…and it has helped him find the full power of his human heart, a force so strong that even you cannot prevail against it. In the protection of the one he loves, he may be beaten back, but he can never be defeated."

Sesshomaru's spirit sank; he could not look at his father. _So_, he thought, _you have raised my hanyou brother above me; how little you must regard me_.

But Sesshomaru's father continued: "I gave you Tenseiga for the same reason: so that you could find your true self, that you might reach beyond the power that comes so easily to you and grasp the true strength that lies hidden within you. Destruction comes from your hand easily—but Tenseiga is the sword of life, not death."

The mist and the voice both began to fade; time began flowing forward again. Sesshomaru's father's final words rang in the silence: "Ultimate power: the goal that you have sought all your life. The path lies before you, but the way cannot be opened by force, even by all the power that is within you. When the moment comes, and the choice must be made... remember: you cannot grasp your prize with clenched fists."

Sesshomaru shook his head to clear his vision; he was back in the present, still on his knees in front of Rin, who had neither seen nor heard his father's apparition. He shook his head again, then rose to his feet. Rin did so as well, her expression clearly showing both her resolve and her confusion. Something significant had just happened, she knew, but did not know what it was.

Sesshomaru looked unto the sky thoughtfully for a few moments, then he unclasped the white stole from his shoulder and wrapped it around Rin. "Quickly—cover yourself with this," he said briskly. "Stay there until I tell you to get up." She obeyed, crouching low on the ground and covering herself with the stole as best she could.

Sesshomaru drew Toukijin, and looked at it long and hard—then he tossed it casually onto the ground, turned without a second thought, and walked briskly away from it. Standing between Rin and the demon sword, he drew Tenseiga. The great sword pulsed joyfully, sending a thrill of power through Sesshomaru. Even though the sword never spoke using words, Sesshomaru had come to understand its messages, and with ever-increasing pulses, it said to him: _This is why I exist—this is the moment for which I was made._

Sesshomaru held the sword out before him, and a blue vortex began forming along its blade. An inner light glowed from deep within its substance, lighting Sesshomaru's face, and its fire flashed within his eyes. As the whirlpool of energy formed around the sword, Sesshomaru summoned his own power, which likewise swirled in a radiant storm about him. Tenseiga's power and his own flowed seamlessly together, and as he held the sword aloft, strength and light surged through him. In a great voice, he cried to the heavens, "Father! Today I am truly your son!" And as if in response, a bolt of lightning cleaved the skies, flashing to the sword and kindling an even greater fire within it. And the light from Tenseiga was brighter than the sun, and at the sight of it the great demon host paused in its deliberations, and held its breath in terror.

Sesshomaru lifted the sword over his head; power rushed through him like a song, a wind rushed through his long white hair, and a violet-white nimbus formed around him. He cried out with a great voice that shook the very roots of the world: "You shall NOT harm her!" He swung Tenseiga down, and released both the sword's power and his own in one single, beautiful, terrible stroke.

A wave of searing blue-white energy flew forward at the leading edge of the blast. It struck the great sword Toukijin, and snapped it cleanly in two. The unimaginable evil that was held within the sword was in a flash utterly annihilated, and the force of that terror's destruction was caught up in Tenseiga's blast and its power added even more energy to the wave. The souls of the innocents who had been slaughtered for the blood in which the evil sword had been quenched were likewise freed by Tenseiga's heavenly force; they rushed out of the sword with a terrible shriek, and sped outward behind the power wave, flames in their hands, voices raised in cries of vengeance. And behind all this, in the wake of the supernal might that Sesshomaru had unleashed, came a boiling maelstrom of raw, inchoate power, through which there flew a hail of debris of boulders and trees: a whirlpool of sheer destruction, rushing at blinding speed towards the demon host.

Nothing could withstand the forces that Sesshomaru had loosed. Many of the demons simply died of fear at the sight of their onrushing destruction; many more were vaporized in the blink of an eye; those who survived the initial blast were shredded by the raging storm that followed the energy wave. Any who had the speed or fortune to avoid the initial blast and the storm were overtaken by the avenging souls that had been freed from Toukijin; and thus, not a single attacker escaped.

For a brief moment, Sesshomaru reveled in his handiwork; he had never imagined the magnitude of the power that lay within Tenseiga, or the forces that he himself was able to command with it. But his joy was short lived; he had spent his entire strength on that single stroke, and the power of the storm he had unleashed was now too great for him to control. He struggled to find footing against the wind, and dodged several boulders that blew his way. As he slid backwards, losing ground against the gale, his foot was stopped by something soft and warm: Rin, still protected by his great white stole, still holding onto the stole and the ground for dear life. The touch of her body brought him a horrible realization: although his youkai body and his remaining strength would probably ensure his own survival, no matter how roughly the storm tossed him about or battered him, Rin's frail human frame could not last much longer, even with the protection of his stole. He was too weak to summon enough power against the storm to save anyone but himself, his sword of destruction lay in pieces, and Tenseiga was cool and silent in his hand, its power spent; and with a shock, he realized that for the first time in his life, he had absolutely no idea what to do.

His bleak thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Tenseiga pulsing; it shook not violently as before, but gently, quietly. In his thoughts, he again heard his father's voice: "You cannot grasp your prize with clenched fists."

Sesshomaru looked at his hand, holding Tenseiga's hilt…and he slowly opened it, allowing the sword to fall softly on the ground at Rin's side. He clenched his fist, hard, with enough force to make his knuckles crack loudly enough to be heard over the raging storm…and then he slowly opened his hand again, and stared at his empty palm.

He felt Tenseiga pulsing again as it lay at his feet: pulsing gently, quietly, almost encouragingly, as he stared at his empty hand. And suddenly, he understood what his father had been trying to tell him, and he saw the choice that lay before him.

He could fight against the storm with what power remained within him … but he barely had enough strength to save himself; Rin would never survive. Or he could yield to the storm: not strive against it, but join with it; and once he had become one with the storm, he could change its course and save Rin from it. He looked down again at Rin, still obedient to his last command, still hiding herself under his stole; and at her side, Tenseiga pulsed one last time, approvingly: _Yes_, it said wordlessly, _at last you understand._

_Yes, Father,_ he thought, _at last, I understand._

Sesshomaru knelt down next to Rin, where she lay on the ground still hiding under his stole. He could see her flinch whenever a bit of flying debris struck the parts of her body not protected by his stole, but just as he had taught her as a young child, she bore the pain of battle in silence, never making the slightest sound to betray any weakness to an enemy. When he realized that it was his teaching that she was following, and that she was following it well, he thought he felt something quite odd, something he had never felt before: was he…proud of Rin? He spent not a second's more thought on it, but rested his hand gently on her shoulder, and shouted to be heard over the storm: "Rin! Quickly—there's not much time."

She lifted her head, and when she saw him, she smiled. "Sesshomaru-sama!" she said, struggling to raise her voice above the storm. "You're OK! Thank goodness! I was afraid you had…" Her voice trailed off when she looked into his face. Sesshomaru's expression was unreadable as always, but eyes were boring intensely into hers—so intensely that for a horrible moment, Rin thought he was about to kill her himself. Instead, he reached out and touched her gently in the center of her forehead. She felt a strange, warm tingling, and her head swam for a moment. He started to withdraw his hand, but hesitated; and then, efficiently but gently, he wiped the last remaining tear from her cheek.

Suddenly businesslike, he said, "Keep your head down." He adjusted the stole to better cover her body and her head. "Don't get up until it's safe—until it's over."

Rin blinked, confused. "Over...?" she asked.

Sesshomaru growled, "NOW, Rin."

Instantly she obeyed him, crouching as low as she could, covering her head with her arms, and allowing Sesshomaru to bundle the stole around her.

Sesshomaru looked down at Rin one last time… Then without another word, he lifted his head proudly, stretched out his arm, and spread himself upon the wind; and gently, gracefully, he floated upwards into the storm.

As he rose into the air, Sesshomaru's body glowed with a pure and beautiful light; and as he felt his body slipping away, merging with the maelstrom, he was filled with a strength that was unlike anything he had ever felt before. This was what he had been searching for all his life: power—his own ultimate power. He had always wielded the power of conquest, the power of death. But this was even greater: the power of peace, of release—of life. He was at last satisfied; and, for the first time in his life, truly happy. Sesshomaru calmly watched his body gently melting away in a swirl of light, and into the light he spoke gently, almost to himself: "Father. You were right." And with the last breath of his body, he spoke the words that he had never once spoken before: "Thank you."

Sesshomaru's light spread like a wildfire through the raging storm. Struggling against him, the storm howled and beat against the ground with renewed ferocity; but the light prevailed, and the bonds that held the storm together were broken. The great whirlwind suddenly shattered, its substance transforming into glittering lights that gently fluttered like snowflakes onto the ground below. And then, all was silent.

After several long minutes, Rin struggled to her feet and looked around her. Obeying Sesshomaru's last command, she had hid herself beneath his stole until she was sure that the battle was over, and never once had even lifted her head to look around. She knew that the fighting was fierce from the deafening roar of the winds and the shaking of the earth at Sesshomaru's voice, and the unearthly tingling that she felt as Tenseiga's blast wave shot over her, but she was totally unprepared for what she saw. Total destruction lay in every direction, as far as her eye could see. Huge boulders had been torn out of the earth and hurled in every direction; massive trees had been uprooted; the path of the river in which she and Jaken had been fishing (was it only an hour ago?) had been completely changed. The grass still waved gently on the hillock on which she stood, but the ground for yards around it had been fused solid, the earth itself transformed into glass by the heat of the power Sesshomaru had summoned. And beyond that lay an even more grisly sight: the remains of the demon army, some with the flesh burned off their bones from the blast itself, some flensed by the whirling debris of the tempest that had followed the blast; the lucky ones who had been killed instantly were still-smoking piles of ash. Rin had grown steeled to Sesshomaru's brutality, but this was destruction on a scale that she had never even imagined. Her head swam, and she sank to her knees, clutching her mouth, her forehead covered in a cold sweat.

Her hand fell upon the hilt of Tenseiga; she felt the pulse of the sword in her grip, and the unearthly energy of the living sword startled her out of her shock. The sword pulsed again; although she heard no words, she felt as though Tenseiga was calling to her.

Then, she saw him.

In the coming years, she would learn to recognize what Tenseiga showed her for what it was: emissaries of the next world attempting to capture and devour a soul. But at this moment, she did not understand the true meaning of the vision Tenseiga was granting her. All she knew was that before her was Sesshomaru in what was clearly a fierce battle for his life, furiously struggling with evil, winged figures—and she could see that he was losing. She had only held Tenseiga once or twice before, and then always in its sheath; she had never wielded it, or any sword for that matter, in her life. And yet, without a second's thought, with an angry shout she hurled herself at the demons attacking Sesshomaru, viciously slashing at them with Tenseiga. The demons recoiled from the fire in her dark eyes, and tried vainly to shield themselves from her sword, but to no avail. With the fury of a mother protecting her children, Rin tore into the demons, slicing them into oblivion. Her breath came heavy with the exertion, and sweat ran down her forehead into her eyes until she was nearly blind, but she stood her ground with the blade facing her opponents until the last demon had dissolved into nothingness.

It was only then that Rin saw that Sesshomaru's body was shining, translucent: a living spirit, but without flesh. Tenseiga had saved Sesshomaru's spirit from the emissaries of the next world, and normally such a rescued spirit would return to its body and re-enter this world. But Sesshomaru's body was gone, given to the storm in order to save Rin from its fury. The only things of substance left were his kimono, his breastplate, and the spiked demon-bone ring that he wore at his left shoulder. Sesshomaru seemed briefly at a loss; then, he saw the shards of Toukijin, lying not far away on the grass. He dissolved into mist, which settled on the sword-shards, and then sunk into the metal; and Rin heard his deep voice inside her mind. "Rin. Take the swords to Totosai."

Rin had seen too much that day, and she was unable to grasp what he had asked of her. "Totosai? Who? I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama, I don't know the way. I don't know what to do."

She heard his voice again: "Aun knows the way. Quickly, Rin. There's not much time."

Sesshomaru's command immediately restored Rin's composure. All her life, she had obeyed his every command without question, and having an order to follow immediately quenched her fears and put her mind at rest. She gathered the sword shards, the sheaths, and Tenseiga, and wrapped them in Sesshomaru's kimono; then she tied the whole bundle up with the stole. She looked about for Aun, but in the vast devastation, she could not see a single living thing beyond the hill on which she stood. In desperation, she cried out as loud as she could, "Aun! Aun! Sesshomaru-sama needs us!" Then, more urgently, "Aun! I need you! Help me!"

She heard the great beast's roar, and he burst forth from underneath one of the many piles of demon corpses that littered the battlefield. He shook off the grisly remains, then flew quickly to her side. Seeing her distress, he kindly nuzzled her face, and she returned his greeting warmly, happy to see anything alive in the midst of this devastation. But then she hurriedly jumped on his back, tying the sword-bundle across her own shoulders as she spoke. "Aun—quickly, take me to Totosai. As fast as you can fly, Aun! We have to save Sesshomaru-sama!" Aun gave a mighty roar, then leapt into the air and flew as he had never flown before—so fast that the wind in Rin's eyes nearly blinded her, and she feared that she might be blown off the great beast's back. As she clung to Aun with all her strength, she prayed silently, over and over: _Sesshomaru-sama, please be all right._


	3. Totosai

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru **

Totosai

Totosai was busily working in his shop when he heard Aun's roar. He did not recognize Rin as she ran inside bearing the sword shards; she was covered with demon gore, dirt, and ashes, and the only clean spots on her face were from the tears that the rushing wind had blown from her eyes across her cheeks. He did, however, recognize Toukijin immediately. "Young lady," he asked sternly, "just what ARE you doing with that evil sword?" But then he stopped; his old eyes, which saw things that no others could, perceived something very different about the sword. "The evil in the sword has been completely purged. It is in perfect balance, neither good nor evil. How did you do that?"

Only then did Totosai take a careful look at Rin, and saw who she was. "Good heavens, Rin-chan, it's you! What happened?" Rin told him what of the story she could, but she had no real understanding of what had happened, and had spent most of the battle hiding under Sesshomaru's stole. Totosai listened carefully, then peered very closely at the sword shards. None knew Tenseiga's power better than he, and he quickly ascertained what had really happened. He could see Sesshomaru's spirit swirling like a dark mist around the shards of the sword, and he could also see the tenuous hold that it had on the weapon. If the bonds between Sesshomaru and the sword were not strengthened, Totosai knew, Sesshomaru's spirit would continue to dissolve into a mist and disperse, lost forever, unable to find home in either this world or the next.

Totosai remembered the lifetime of beatings, abuse, insults, and death threats that he had received from Sesshomaru, and of Sesshomaru's long and bloody history of cruelty, even in the service of his father, the only being to whom Sesshomaru had ever shown even a shred of respect. "It would serve him right," thought Totosai. "I can't think of anyone who deserves oblivion more."

But then Totosai looked at Rin's tear-stained face, and she pleaded with him. "Please, Father Totosai. Please save Sesshomaru-sama."

Rin's pleas softened his heart, and he relented. "Oh well," Totosai thought. "I never could say no to a pretty girl." He took the sword shards under one arm, and patted Rin on the cheek. "All right, my dear, I'll see what I can do. But when I reforge it, I'll need something to bind the pieces together." He deftly plucked a single long hair from her head. "This will do fine." He set the shards in front of him, and began laying out his tools. "Why don't you go to the stream and wash yourself, then take a rest. You'll need to wait outside—it's not safe for you in here." Rin wanted to protest, but the blazing heat from Totosai's breath, the deafening "clang" of his hammer, and a shower of sparks quickly convinced her to go.

As Totosai had suggested, Rin went outside to the stream. The day was warm, and the stream ran clear with sweet, cool water. She washed, cleaning the remains of the battle from herself and from her clothes (Sesshomaru's stole, through some magic of its own, had not only protected her but had remained spotless and shining white), then she settled down at Aun's side to wait. She felt lonelier than she had since the day that her parents had been killed, and she held Sesshomaru's beautiful stole close, trying to take some comfort from its softness. The fur was supple and warm, and Rin could still faintly detect Sesshomaru's scent in it, but whether that gave her more or less comfort, she did not know.

Day turned to night, and back to day, and Rin had heard not a single word from Totosai; only the harsh clanging sounds of a sword-smith at work. She was lying against Aun, nodding in the warm morning sun, when Totosai came to get her. "Rin...please come with me," he said grimly, and led her into his shop.

On the floor, its blade suspended across two black wooden blocks, lay the great sword Toukijin, and Rin knew immediately that something was very wrong. She had spent years in the company of Sesshomaru's swords, and had wielded Tenseiga and felt its strange "life" herself, and knew exactly what an enchanted sword should look like. But this sword was nothing but cold, dead metal. Totosai knelt down next to the sword, and Rin knelt next to him. She touched the blade in disbelief, then looked at Totosai, her eyes pleading for an explanation.

"I did the best that I could, Rin-chan...but in the end, I couldn't do it. There was one crucial ingredient that I just couldn't supply. I'm...I'm sorry."

This was more than Rin could bear. She hadn't cried at her own parent's deaths; the shock of that horrible experience had stilled her voice, and it wasn't until she met Sesshomaru that she could laugh or even speak again. But today, she did not grieve in silence. As she knelt over the sword, her anger and loss found its voice, and from the depths of her soul came wracking sobs.

"Sesshomaru, you...you...you IDIOT!" She screamed at the sword, pounding her fists on the ground. "Damn you! Why did you do this? I _told_ you to let them take me. I _begged_ you to let them take me!" Tears poured down her face, bathing the blade in a flood of sorrow. "Sesshomaru-sama...I didn't want you to die for me!"

When Totosai saw this, he gently but firmly drew Rin aside, blew on the blade with his fiery breath, and struck it with one expert blow of his hammer. The blade rang with a high, beautiful note, and Rin's tears that had fallen on the blade coalesced, but did not run off. Instead, they sank into the metal, where somehow in the depths of the blade they seemed to kindle a warm, lavender radiance. Gradually the glow increased in brightness and spread throughout the blade, until the entire room was suffused with the sword's living, vibrant light.

Totosai bowed very low before Rin. "Forgive an old man's cruelty, my child, but there was no other way. I didn't lie to you—there was one crucial ingredient that I could not provide. But you could." He gently wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks, and kindly patted her on the head; then turned aside to collect his tools. "I'd go easy at first with that sword. I've adjusted the hilt for your smaller hand, and there's some magic in it that's just for you...of course," he chuckled, "you'll need to find that for yourself. But although the evil's gone from it, there's a lot about that sword I don't understand. I'm afraid it will be too heavy for you..." Totosai turned, and was surprised to find Rin had easily lifted the sword and was now dancing with it, all sorrow forgotten. She laughed and sang as she twirled, and in her hand the sword moved with the lightness of a kite on a string. Presently she sheathed the sword, and slipped it and Tenseiga into her belt with a practiced ease. Then, she wrapped the white stole over her shoulder, and carefully folded Sesshomaru's kimono in which she had carried the swords and placed it in Aun's pack.

Watching her prepare to depart, Totosai was unwilling to let her leave alone, even with Aun. "It's a dangerous world out there for a young girl, all alone," Totosai said, with fatherly concern. "Maybe we can get the word to somebody to come get you. And I can always use another hand around the shop."

Totosai saw Toukijin pulse, and Sesshomaru's sonorous voice quietly reached his ears: "Do not worry. I will protect her." At the sound of that voice, Totosai shuddered at the thought of what might happen to anyone who dared to even attempt to harm Rin, but then he laughed.

"Well, in that case," he chuckled, "I guess you don't need _my_ help." He went back into his shop, and shortly returned with something wrapped in gray cloth. "Before you go, I have one more gift for you," said Totosai. He unwrapped the bundle, and presented her with Sesshomaru's breastplate and spiked demon-bone shoulder guard. "I rebuilt these for you last night while the sword was cooling. They were too big for you, but now they should fit just right." The breastplate and shoulder guard slipped on easily, and indeed, Rin looked as though she had been born to wear them. "Since I had to cut them down to your size, I had extra material, so I made you these." And he gave her two beautiful bracelets, strong but graceful; and inset in each, in burnished silver, was the sigil of the crescent moon. "I think he would have wanted you to wear them."

Rin bowed graciously. "Yes, you're right. He does." She kissed Totosai on the forehead; he giggled and blushed. "Thank you, Father Totosai, for everything." Without another word, she turned, and with Aun at her side, walked off. As she walked, she rested her left hand on Toukijin's hilt, and a slow mysterious smile crept across her face. It would become her most precious secret, something that Totosai might have guessed but that she never discussed with him, nor did she tell any other soul as long as she lived. For when she set her hand on the sword's hilt, she did not feel cold metal, but something that she had wanted since her childhood but had never dared to ask for: the soft warmth of Sesshomaru's hand, gently holding hers.

Totosai laughed to himself at the firm stride with which she walked, and especially the way that she turned and departed wordlessly; it reminded him very much of Sesshomaru. He looked at the sky, and thought of his old master, the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru's great father. "Well, master," he said to the air, "you would be very proud of your son today." And he laughed again, and gently rubbed his forehead where she had kissed him. "And of your son's daughter."


	4. Her Father's Daughter

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru **

Her Father's Daughter

Just as Sesshomaru had planned, Jaken had survived the battle, both unscathed and unnoticed. By the time he had managed to fight his way out from under the pile of debris and demon corpses, the battle was long over. Jaken knew that Sesshomaru was most often to be found at the head of any swath of destruction, so he slowly picked his way through the wreckage until he found the hillock where Sesshomaru had made his last stand. Indeed, it was very easy to find; in the circle of destruction that lay for miles in every direction, the only living things left in the valley were the grasses and flowers that were so mysteriously untouched on that little rise. Jaken called about for his master, but heard no response. Then, near the top of the hill, he found part of Sesshomaru's kimono, no more than a rag, stuck at the end of a twig and flapping quietly in the breeze.

Jaken was overwhelmed with grief, and, I am sorry to report, was most shameless in giving vent to his sorrow. He cried long and loud, moaning first over his master's departure, then his own unworthiness for being of no assistance in Sesshomaru's hour of need, then his master's nobility and power in his last and greatest battle; then he reprised the litany of his own unworthiness. This went on for far too long, but eventually Jaken reached the end of his lamentations, and pondered what to do next. He had always imagined himself at Sesshomaru's right hand forever (or at least, under Sesshomaru's right foot), and now that his master was gone, he had nowhere to go and nothing to do. Suddenly, the thought struck him: he would, on this very spot, build a shrine befitting Sesshomaru's nobility and greatness. Jaken had visions of a towering edifice to rival the Imperial palace in majesty and beauty. Sadly, he lacked the Imperial resources, or for that matter, even the slightest talent for stonemasonry; and after several hours, the best he had been able to assemble was five rather pitiful piles of stones, upon one of which was placed very reverently the shred of Sesshomaru's kimono.

Truth be told, Jaken did provide a tragically amusing spectacle: a squat little green-skinned demon, earnestly and fustily arranging and rearranging little piles of stones, from time to time crowing over his achievements. Still, it was the height of cruelty when three particularly large, ugly, evil, and stupid demons trod through his little shrine and kicked over his stones.

Furious, Jaken flamed them with his staff; but this only enraged them more. The largest, ugliest, and stupidest of the three grabbed Jaken by the throat and lifted him up so that he could be more easily regarded by the demon's middle eye. "Little toad," the demon growled, "What do you think you're doing here?"

Jaken sputtered, then he responded with as much dignity as he could muster with the demon's hand clutching his throat. "I am preparing a shrine for the noble and mighty Sesshomaru-sama, and you have defiled his grave. Leave at once, or face terrible justice!"

The demons laughed cruelly. "How are YOU going to dispense justice to us?" The demon tossed Jaken from one hand to another, then held him upside down by his feet and shook him. "Here's your terrible justice!" the demon howled with laughter. "In case you haven't noticed, this is the only place for miles around that isn't completely dead, and it's going to be our new home—and you can take your shrine for Sessho-whoever with you to hell!" The demon's grip tightened on Jaken's ankles, and he made ready to swallow Jaken in a single gulp. Oh well, thought Jaken, at least I have regained some honor in defending Sesshomaru-sama's shrine with my last breath.

"Release him."

A clear, cold voice cut through the night like a knife. The startled demons turned to see where the sound had come from; Jaken did his best to do so as well, even if he was being held upside down over a demon's gullet.

On a boulder jutting over the ravine stood a tall and beautiful figure, silhouetted against the rising moon. Its kimono was gleaming white, and its long hair blew in the wind, as did the long white stole at its right shoulder. "Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken cried with joy, "You've come to save me!" But as the figure drew its sword, he saw it more clearly: the long hair was sable, not white, and it was clearly a woman's form. When he realized who it was, Jaken was beside himself with rage. "Rin, you horrible, ungrateful child! You abandoned Sesshomaru-sama in his hour of need, and now you've stolen his clothes and his sword. What are you playing at, you awful brat?"

The demons also saw that it was a woman who had addressed them, and they doubled over with laughter, nearly dropping Jaken on his head in the process. "Haw, haw, haw! The little girl is playing with a sword! Careful, little girl, you might get hurt!" Two of the demons pretended to fall upon make-believe swords and expire loudly, and they slapped each other on the back and guffawed.

"Put him down, and leave, NOW—or die."

The demons were so busy congratulating themselves on their cleverness that they did not notice that this time it was not one voice, but two that spoke in unison: one, the dark and clear voice of a young woman, the other a menacing baritone that shook the earth like a malevolent organ. The demon holding Jaken continued to chide the distant figure. "Go run home to your daddy, little gi..."

The demon's insult was cut off in mid-word. In the blink of an eye, Rin had crossed the distance between herself and the demon, and had slashed him neatly in half with Toukijin. The edges of the demon where the sword had just cut him burned brightly with a mystical fire that quickly set the rest of the demon's body ablaze, and Jaken felt his scales singe as the demon's flesh, still holding him aloft, sizzled into nothingness in the cold flame. The arm holding him in the air having burned away, Jaken fell, and as he fell he saw Rin flashing by, raising her blade to dispatch the remaining demons. Her speed, and the grip with which she held her sword, he recognized immediately as Sesshomaru's. Likewise, her face was set in Sesshomaru's mask of utter dispassion, cold and implacable as death itself; but her dark eyes burned with a terrible fury that was fully human. This fusion of youkai power and human passion terrified Jaken more than anything he had seen in his many years of serving Sesshomaru, and he shuddered in terror as Rin passed. Then his head hit the ground, and everything went black.

In a few moments, his eyes cleared. Kneeling over him was Rin, no longer transfigured with vengeance, but only her usual sweet, gentle self, her lovely face full only of concern for him. "Jaken-sama, are you all right?"

Jaken sat bolt upright, looking frantically for the demons that had attacked him. "Rin-chan—the demons—are you...?"

Rin laughed. "Oh, don't worry about them. They won't bother us any more. But how are you, dear Jaken-sama?" She gently ran her hands over his head and arms, looking for injuries.

As she looked him over, Jaken touched her stole, and saw her bracelets. "How did you come to have this? And what are these?" Then Jaken looked into her face, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Rin-chan," he said sternly, "What is that on your forehead?"

Rin sat bolt upright, and rubbed her hand across her forehead. "My forehead?" she wondered aloud. "I thought I had washed all that stuff off before I left Totosai's." She looked around, and found a small pool of water that had formed in one of the many depressions that had been carved by flying debris, and in it she looked at her reflection.

In the center of her forehead was the sign of the crescent moon. It was a warm and rich indigo, the color of the twilight sky. When she touched it, it glowed faintly.

She took some water from the pool, and tried to rub the mark off, but it was not dirt, blood, paint, or a scar; it was a part of her skin. Then, Rin remembered. "Oh... this." Her hand crept towards her cheek, and she blushed as she recalled her last moments with Sesshomaru. "I guess...Sesshomaru-sama...put it there...right before he..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes could not meet Jaken's.

Jaken picked himself up, dusted himself off, and straightened his coat; then he pulled himself up to his full height. In his most formal voice, he proclaimed: "Only the noble-born of the dog-youkai clan may bear the crest of the crescent moon. As the son of his high-born mother and the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru bore the sign: Inuyasha, the son of a human, did not. Only the most noble and most powerful have ever borne this mark: and now, you bear it." Jaken knelt, then placed his hands formally on the ground. "By the swords that you carry, by the deeds of your hands, and by our lord's sign that he himself has placed upon you," he intoned; then, prostrating himself before her, he proclaimed, "you are the daughter of Sesshomaru. I shall serve you as I have served him."

Rin blushed again, then composed herself and gently helped Jaken to his feet. "Never bow like that to me, Jaken-aniue." And she smiled gently at him. Then, cheerily, she rose. "Come. Let's find some fish, and I'll tell you the whole story."

Jaken gathered his staff, straightened his vest, and again bowed formally. "Where you lead, I shall follow, Rin-sama." And without further speech, they turned and walked away together, on the first of what would become journeys without number.

And so Rin became the mistress of her little band. She continued Sesshomaru's enigmatic business, the details of which she never told a living soul, and which occupied much of her wanderings. Like Sesshomaru, she avoided contact with most creatures, youkai and human alike. While she never shared Sesshomaru's disdain for humans, neither did she feel the need for their companionship. Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Aun were family enough for her, and she was content. If you happened to pass her on the road, she would happily exchange greetings, kind words, or a warm smile. However, her gentle demeanor masked a core of iron; although she killed much less casually than Sesshomaru did, she was not in the least afraid to use deadly force. Her preference was to repel rather than destroy those who would draw a weapon against her, but anyone foolish enough to raise that weapon a second time did not live long enough to attempt its use.

Rin sang less frequently than she did as a girl, but was no less joyful; she laughed less, but she smiled easily and often. She began to appreciate the peace of silent contemplation that Sesshomaru himself had so loved. Her face never grew as hard as Sesshomaru's, but her eyes became so dark and keen that only the truly brave or pure in heart could look her in the face. She did not "travel the world doing good"—she had less than no interest in errantry, and her own affairs were enough for her. However, any who had the strength of heart to bear her soul-piercing gaze and ask for her help would invariably receive it. But for those who preyed upon the innocent and weak, she had neither pity nor mercy.

Jaken had suffered horribly in the service of Sesshomaru, regularly enduring being kicked, trod upon, or (fortunately, only on rare occasions) slashed with swords. By contrast, Rin was always kind to Jaken. She never abused him, but she did gently tease him from time to time, or stick flowers into his hat or (only on rare occasions) behind his ear. She saw that he enjoyed such gentle torment in the service of his mistress; for him, it was a badge of honor.

Sesshomaru was a beloved, respected, and constant presence. Rin was able to wield Sesshomaru's power either with or without his sword, but it was not "demon possession" as you might think of it. It was more, shall we say, a sharing of the soul; but each of them always remained distinct and individual. From time to time she would converse with him, but he was as solitary as a spirit as he was in the flesh, and they respected each other's privacy. He tempered her innocence with wisdom, and protected her from all harm; and she taught him the meaning of joy and compassion. And so, as was fated from the very first day they met, they became each other's salvation.


	5. The Village

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru **

The Village

One evening, not too long after she began her journeys as her own mistress, Rin came over a small rise to discover the remains of a small village, its humble homes nothing but burning embers.

"Rin-sama," Jaken said hastily, "This is of no concern to you. There is nothing to be done here. We will find another road. Let us leave this sadness behind us."

Rin did not move an inch; she stood still as a stone, her face slowly growing pale. "It was just like this in my own village... the day my parents were killed." Her left hand sought out the hilt of Toukijin, and she grasped it so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Bandits," she said through clenched teeth. "I hate them. I hate them more than anything else."

"Rin." Sesshomaru's voice entered her thoughts; he could sense her anger, and his words came gently. "I hear only the weeping of children, and I smell only blood and death."

Without really looking where she was going, Rin haltingly walked the path to the village. She knew what she would find before she arrived, and she was sickened to find that she was right. It was exactly as Sesshomaru had said: there was nothing but blood and death.

To one side, she heard a small snuffling noise. In front of what remained of one of the villager's homes was a little girl. She held a soot-stained doll in one arm, and with the other grasped at what looked like a pile of rags on the ground beside her. As Rin drew nearer, she saw more clearly: the girl was holding the hand of a woman's body, which was limp and cold in her little hand.

Rin made her way to the little girl's side, and asked, "What happened here?"

The girl looked at Rin, and opened her mouth, but no sound came out. After a couple of attempts, the girl stopped trying to talk, and just rocked her doll and tugged at the woman's limp hand. Rin looked more closely, and from the way that the child clutched at the woman, the patterns of the woman's and the child's tattered clothes, and from the woman's wounds and the blood that had dried on the girl's face, Rin understood what the girl was too devastated to tell her: that this had been her mother, and she had fallen defending her child to her last breath.

Memories of her own stolen childhood swam before Rin's eyes: the terror of the bandit's attack, the lifeless eyes of her father and brother in the wreckage of their home, and her mother's own blood splattered on her hands and face. The shock had robbed her of the ability to speak for months, and she had only found healing in her relationship with Sesshomaru. And now, all the horror that she had been unable to deal with in her own childhood came rushing back, and heaped upon the tragedy of the child before her, it was more than Rin could bear. A red miasma clouded her vision, and she crumpled to her knees with nausea and pain, one hand on her stomach, the other over her mouth.

"Rin. Compose yourself." Sesshomaru's gently reproving voice brought her back to the present, and slowly she mastered herself. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and the tears from her eyes, swallowed once or twice, then stood up. As she looked down at the child, Tenseiga pulsed quietly at her waist. The sword as ever spoke without words, but its message was clear: _This time, it can be different._

"Yes," Rin said to herself, straightening her back and gathering her resolve. "This time... it _will_ be different." With a flash, she drew Tenseiga. The little girl saw the sword and Rin's grim visage, and in terror fell protectively over her mother's body, her mouth opened in a silent scream. With one quick stroke, Rin drew Tenseiga through both mother and daughter, then in a second stroke destroyed the hell-minions that were attacking the mother's soul.

The little girl immediately felt the warmth of Tenseiga's restoring power, and her tears stopped at once. Slowly, the mother opened her eyes. When she saw her daughter, she rushed to embrace her with tears of joy. She turned and saw Rin, and for a moment she mistook her for the bandits that had attacked her, and she desperately covered her daughter with her own body to protect her from another killing stroke; but the little girl's sweet voice suddenly piped, "No, mommy—the nice lady made you all better."

In a flash, memory of the attack returned to the mother; she haltingly felt her body for remembered wounds, and to her amazement found none of them. Understanding grew in her eyes, and unable to find any words, she arose, and solemnly bowed very low before Rin. The little girl ran up to Rin, and hugged her tight around the knees, and with a big smile looked into Rin's face and said, "Thank you for fixing my mommy."

Rin smiled at the child, gently stroking the girl's long hair and wiping the tears from the child's face, then she fixed the mother with her stern gaze. "Take this child away from the village tonight. Do not let her see what is going to transpire here. She has seen enough death this night." With that, Rin sheathed her sword, turned, and walked away without another word.

She made her way to the center of town, where the villagers had made their desperate, futile last stand, and where their bodies still lay. Again she drew Tenseiga, and looked pensively at the blade. "The sword that can save a hundred lives with one stroke," she mused. "Let's see if the legend is true."

She held Tenseiga aloft to the sky, and a whirling electric vortex formed around the blade. With a firm stroke, she cast Tenseiga's power across the bodies of the villagers, its light momentarily banishing the darkness; and in a few moments, they began to stir. One by one, they arose, memories of their defeat gradually returning and the realization of their resurrection dawning; and one by one, they became aware of Rin, still standing within their circle, her naked sword still in hand. When she saw that all eyes were on her, her clear voice rang out: "Those who committed these crimes will soon be returning. This time, be ready for them." Her long hair and her kimono whipped smartly around her as she whirled and sheathed her blade, and in silence she walked out of the village.

* * *

In a field not far outside the village, the troupe of bandits had gathered to congratulate themselves on their exploits, and to revel in the bounty they had stolen. They did not hear Rin's silent footfalls as she walked into their camp, nor did they see her until she was right in their midst, standing next to their fire. Even then, they paid her little heed.

"Which one of you killed a woman today, even while she was holding her child?" she asked in a cold, steady voice. The bandits just guffawed and continued drinking.

Sesshomaru's voice slipped into Rin's thoughts. "That one. His hands still reek of the woman's blood."

Rin walked up to the bandit, the largest of them all, a pile of pillaged goods beside him. He lounged against a stump, drinking from a jug and belching rudely. "Did you kill a mother holding a child today?" she asked him quietly.

"Oh, hell, I dunno. Probably." He scratched himself, then called over his shoulder to his companions, "They all kinda look the same after a while, don't they?" The other bandits roared with laughter. "Now you and me, little girl, we could really have some fun..."

The bandit suddenly howled in pain. With the speed of a striking snake, Rin had drawn Toukijin and thrust it into the man's belly. There was no magic whatsoever in the stroke; Rin had coldly, and efficiently, run him through with the sword.

"Aaarrgh! I'll kill you!" he screamed in pain and rage, but Rin was not through with him. She lifted the bandit, still spitted on the end of her sword, high into the air; his feet dangled several feet off the ground, and he kicked them uselessly. As the hapless man screamed and struggled, mystic fire flowed along Toukijin's blade, engulfing him in a cold green flame. His cries of pain redoubled, and as his body burned, parts began to drop, still ablaze, to the ground. "Help me!" the man screamed, and two of his fellows rushed to his aid. But with a cruel snap, Rin flung the burning body from the blade of her sword into the arms of his would-be rescuers; the flame immediately spread to them, and now all three lay on the ground, blazing in searing green fire and screaming in agony.

The remaining bandits grabbed their weapons, and circled Rin. "She killed the chief—get her! Get her!" they screamed, and with swords and clubs aloft, they charged her. Rin leapt into the air, spinning gracefully, and a whip of energy extended from the sword, sweeping along the circle of attackers—and as one, their weapons shattered. Swords burst into sparkling shrapnel; clubs exploded from within and sent flaming splinters in every direction.

This, finally, was too much for the bandits, and they fled screaming in terror, with Rin following steadily after them, her face set in a cold, implacable mask that promised certain, grim death. The bandits made for a nearby forest, but their escape was cut off by Aun and Jaken rising out of the underbrush. "Cowards! Miserable dogs! Think you to escape my lady's wrath so easily?" Jaken cackled with evil glee as Aun lifted him high into the air over their heads, rising aloft on a bed of flame; and as Jaken laughed, he sprayed the men with flames from his staff.

And still they ran, this time, this time heading towards a meadow; but they found no escape there either. Darkening the moonlit night, a great fog suddenly arose and coalesced into a huge and terrifying apparition: it was Sesshomaru, in his fearsome canine form, with a roar that shook the earth.

The bandits were utterly undone. Sesshomaru, towering above the meadow and snarling, blocked their left; Jaken's eldritch screeching and a curtain of flames cut off their right; and still approaching them with steady and inexorable steps was Rin, her dark eyes blazing with hatred, and her terrible sword shining with a chilling light of its own. The bandits fled screaming in the only direction of escape that Rin had permitted them: the road to the village, where their former victims lay in wait. And as Rin had instructed them—this time, they were ready.

Rin waited until the bandit's screams of terror were replaced with cries of pain as they were dealt rough justice by the villagers. Only then did she sheathe her sword, turn her back to the village and the bandit's encampment, and walk to the meadow, where Jaken and Aun were waiting for her.

"Do you feel better now, Rin-sama?" Jaken asked gently.

Rin's thoughts immediately went back to the destruction of her home village, but then they quickly returned to the little girl, to whom Rin had returned her mother, her home, and her voice; and she remembered the little girl's embrace, her innocent face, and her sweet piping "Thank you."

And Rin smiled, and said with her face turned to the sky, "Yes. This time, it _was_ different." She laughed to herself; then, with a coy grin, she turned to Jaken and said in her most businesslike tone, "Now, Jaken, I must speak to you about this: 'Miserable dogs?' You _do_ remember who your master is, don't you?" And, smiling primly, she walked briskly on ahead.

Jaken sputtered and bowed so violently that his forehead struck the ground. "Rin-sama, please forgive me—it was just a figure of speech." When he stopped bowing, he saw that Rin had already walked a considerable distance away from him. "Rin-sama! Wait! Please wait!" _Always leaving poor Jaken behind_, he muttered to himself, as he ran to catch up with her. _Just like her father_.


	6. Old Friends

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru**

Old Friends

Rin's adventures were many, and what few of them are known are told elsewhere. Her name was not spoken often, but when it was spoken, it was with reverence. She did many mighty deeds, but asked nothing for them in return, not even thanks. There was the time that she obliterated an entire youkai army, single-handedly, in just one night. And then there was the time that she saved a large coastal settlement from an onrushing tsunami...

It was a terrible and beautiful sight: A slender woman standing alone on a high promontory over the seacoast, her hair blowing in the wind, a naked sword outstretched in each hand. Toukijin, the soul-sword of Sesshomaru, blazing with red and green tongues of supernal fire; Tenseiga, the sword of life, its mystical lighting cleaving the heavens and dancing along its blade; and above her head, a great whirling vortex of human and youkai energy, as her spirit and her guardian's danced and sparked together, banishing the night. And then as the great wave rose up to crush her, she released all in a single stroke; and the wave was, in a flash, utterly obliterated. And all that could be heard in the resounding quiet thereafter was the splash of the calm waves, and the gentle distant pattering as the water that had been the crushing wave softly rained down over the deep seas. And having accomplished all this, Rin merely sheathed her swords, smiled to herself, and walked silently off into the forest. Then, of course, was the time that she and Inuyasha defeated the legions of — but _that_, of course, is another story.

In all her years, Rin never took a husband; even the thought to do so never crossed her mind. She had Sesshomaru, and Jaken, and Aun, and they were all she ever needed. The only other beings whose company she ever sought were the companions of her childhood. She maintained a pleasant, if sometimes rocky, relationship with Shippou. After the changes that became apparent in Rin after she began traveling with Sesshomaru's soul and wielding Sesshomaru's swords, he first became quite terrified of her, then shortly thereafter developed an intense crush on her (which Rin very thoughtfully pretended not to notice); things had since settled down to a gracious and stable friendship. She remained warmly cordial with Sango, Miroku, and their many children, to whom she became the spooky but kindly Aunt Rin, who always had the most wonderful stories and who would bring them the most amazing treasures, natural objects of surpassing beauty that only someone with Rin's keen eyes could find: a spotted stone in the shape of a sleeping leopard, or a seashell with the face of a dragon that contained sparkling lavender sand from some mysterious and faraway beach. But for Kagome, who was her closest friend and confidante, she always brought a single rare and perfect flower, pressed carefully between the pages of the tiny picture book that Kagome had given Rin when she was still a little girl. Besides her swords and the clothes on her back, it was her most precious—and in fact, her only—possession.

One evening, Rin and Jaken had chanced upon Kagome and Inuyasha, and after many warm embraces they settled down around the fire to share a meal and some stories. Jaken was munching away happily on some of Kagome's "ninja food" (without which Kagome never traveled, in case she ever met her old friends), and Rin was braiding an elaborate crown of field flowers while she listened to tales of Kagome's recent adventures in her own time. Inuyasha was the same as ever, still very much a brat (even though Kagome's civilizing influence was clearly in evidence in his improved behavior). Kagome was just getting rolling on the story of her first attempt to take Inuyasha to a "romantic getaway" in the modern era, and Inuyasha was getting a little surly about being referred to in the third person while the girls giggled, but then his ears twitched and he sat bolt upright.

"Someone's coming," he said. He sniffed the air. "Humans."

"I know," said Rin, never looking up from her braiding. "Eight of them. They're of no importance." She expertly snapped one flower stem to length, and calmly reached for another.

Just as she had said, there were eight of them: grey-frocked priests, all bearing staves and prayer beads. They gathered in a ring, surrounding Rin and her friends, and their leader walked into the center of the circle and stood in front of Kagome.

"Awright, so whaddaya want?" said Inuyasha.

The priest ignored Inuyasha and spoke directly to Kagome. "So, we meet again, after these many years, and still you have not repented."

Inuyasha made no attempt to hide his irritation as he growled, "Look, you, I don't remember you, but if you met us before, I'm sure I told you the same thing then—mind your own damned business and get lost!" Rin paid no attention to either of them, but reached down into her pile of materials and selected another flower to braid.

The priest continued to glare at Kagome. "You may not remember, but I can never forget. It was many years ago, when I was just an apprentice. My master came across a strangely dressed miko and a white-haired hanyou, in the company of mononoke. He offered to save you from their evil influence; you refused."

Jaken choked and spat out his noodles. "Who are you calling a mononoke?" He puffed out his chest proudly. "Can't you see what I am? Mononoke, indeed."

"Hush, Jaken," said Rin quietly. "Don't encourage him. Finish your noodles. Have you tried the pickles?" Jaken scowled, stuffed a handful of pickles into his mouth, and glowered as he chewed. Rin continued work on her braiding, executing a particularly complex weave in a single move, and clucked approvingly at her work.

The priest took no interest in Jaken's outrage; he continued, "Later that day, my master suffered his greatest defeat. He tried to rescue a child who had been kidnapped and bewitched by a demon most foul; but the child refused him, choosing the company of youkai over her own kind. The demon's power was too great for even my master to overcome, and he was never the same after that humiliating day."

Jaken choked on his food again, and began spluttering in outrage, sending bits of pickles flying in every direction. Rin's eyes narrowed, and she abruptly stopped braiding; she put down her work, and stifled Jaken's protests by dumping an armful of flowers onto his head. "I think you've said enough," she said darkly. "I think it would be best for you to leave. Now."

This only infuriated the priest. "When the redemption of my master's honor is within my grasp? No, on the contrary, it is time for you to leave—but you will be departing for the next life." He brandished his staff, which began sparking menacingly. The circle of priests raised their prayer beads, which began to glow in unison with the priest's staff.

Rin smiled; only Jaken saw her do so. It was not her utterly charming, happy-little-girl smile that could warm a chilly day; it was Sesshomaru's horrible someone-is-going-to-die-soon-and-they-don't-know-it-yet smirk: of all his master's expressions, it was the one that Jaken found the most disturbing. He liked it not at all on Sesshomaru, and he liked it even less on Rin. Jaken began to look about for the most convenient source of cover, thinking that if all else failed, he could hide behind Kagome (until Inuyasha noticed, that is).

"My master would have saved you, but you chose the path of darkness," the priest continued. He glared at each of them in turn. "You, a fallen miko, who have clearly defiled yourself by..." He looked at Inuyasha's hand resting gently on Kagome's thigh, and nearly choked on his own revulsion, "... by... _consorting_... with a hanyou." Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other coyly, Kagome blushed and giggled, and Inuyasha chortled. This only further infuriated the priest. "You, hanyou, bear a weapon that reeks of youkai energy. I can only imagine the evil you have committed with it." He turned to Jaken, and with disgust, nearly spat as he said, "You were born beyond redemption. I have nothing to say to you." But his final insult was delivered to Rin: "And you, young woman, bearing weapons when you should be bearing children, are rotten with the stench of youkai, and your stain is there for all to see in the mark of an..." He shuddered with disgust and indignation, "...an ABOMINATION, befouling your face." Rin said nothing, but her left hand had stealthily loosened Toukijin in its sheath, and her left thumb slowly pushed the blade to the ready position.

The priest held his staff aloft and shouted with a great voice: "You pollute this world with your heinous presence. I have no choice but to send you to the next world, where perhaps you may atone for the harm you have done to this one." His staff glowed and sparked, and a spell began to form.

Inuyasha leaped to his feet, his hand on Tessaiga, but before he could draw it, Rin was already in motion. In the blink of an eye she flew at the priest. With one stroke she cleaved the head of the staff neatly in two, and with the return stroke, she sliced through the shaft, scattering the half-cast spell in a shower of sparks. Rin spun into the air with her long black hair and gleaming white kimono gracefully whirling about her, a tongue of flame coursing from her sword. The energy bolt whipped around the circle of priests; and although they themselves were untouched, their prayer beads simultaneously burst into flames. Several of them were brought to their knees by the shock and burning pain in their hands.

Rin floated softly to the ground, then drove Toukijin roughly into the dirt, where it stood upright, glowing ominously. She strode to the priest, and grabbed him by the throat. Neither her face nor voice betrayed any emotion; she spoke in quiet, measured tones, but every syllable dripped menace.

"I _told _you it would be better for you to leave. You know _nothing_ of my friends. You know _nothing at all_." Her fingers slowly began to tighten on his throat, and cold sweat ran down his face; he was paralyzed by terror, and he did not even struggle to break free of her iron grip.

Rin's dark eyes burned as she spoke. "Since you know nothing of my friends," she said coldly, "let me explain: This miko has, with her own hands, rid the world of more evils than all of you together have even seen. The love that beats in the heart of this hanyou would shame a saint, and with that love and that sword he has saved this woman, and this world, times beyond number." Her eyes narrowed, and her grip tightened. "And the love that they share in each other's arms is holy, and _you_... will... NOT... speak of it."

At this, Kagome and Inuyasha both blushed and grinned sheepishly at each other. But Rin was not finished. "And as for me..." With terrifying ease, she lifted the priest into the air, still holding him by the throat. "I was that girl of which you spoke. Humans killed those who gave me life, and those of my own village shunned me. It was youkai who sheltered me, cared for me, and cherished me." (At this, it was Jaken's turn to blush.) "And as for the one you call an 'abomination'..."

A great mist arose from Toukijin, and from that mist solidified the spirit of Sesshomaru: tall and menacing, staring unblinkingly at the hapless priest.

"This one recalled me from death back to life, and saved that life more times than I can count. He is more father to me than the one who begat me, and I owe him EVERYTHING."

Rin pulled the man's face close to hers. Through clenched teeth, she said hoarsely, "And if you ever trouble me or mine again... I will kill you with my bare hands."

She hurled the poor man down onto the ground, face first, at Sesshomaru's feet. The priest struggled to raise his face off the ground, but when he did so, he found himself pinned by Sesshomaru's steely gaze. Sesshomaru's sonorous voice chilled the air: "Leave. Now. While you still have your lives."

Rin and Sesshomaru as one turned their backs on the priests, their hair and kimonos swirling gracefully with each step, and away they walked. Rin casually retrieved Toukijin and sheathed it in a single smooth motion. The priests realized that they had a one-time opportunity for a retreat and they immediately took it, running headlong off into the night.

Inuyasha resumed his seat and stretched his legs comfortably before him. He put his hands behind his head and said with unmistakable pride, "Boy, she sure takes after Sesshomaru, doesn't she?" Kagome nodded in agreement, but something caught her eye and she nearly did a double take at what she thought she had seen. Had Sesshomaru heard what Inuyasha had said? Was that the ghost of a smile at the corner of Sesshomaru's mouth? She rubbed her eyes, but when she looked again, Sesshomaru's apparition had disappeared, returning to its home in the sword.

Without a look backwards, Rin picked up the flower-crown she had been weaving, and inspected it with an expert eye. "Now, where were we? Jaken, you didn't crush my flowers, did you?" She made some adjustments to the crown, and continued chatting as if nothing had happened. "So, Kagome, you were telling me about the trouble you were having coaxing Inuyasha into the mineral baths?" Rin leaned forward and skimmed the floral circlet deftly at Inuyasha, where it settled at a jaunty angle on his head.

Rin leaned conspiratorially towards Kagome. "I think the blue bells are just perfect for the gold in his eyes, don't you?" Both women burst into peals of girlish laughter, and Inuyasha muttered under his breath, "Boy, does she _ever_ take after Sesshomaru."


	7. The Last Journey

**The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru **

The Last Journey

The years were kind to Rin. The influence of Tenseiga and Sesshomaru held the cruelties of age at bay, but she was still human, and her time on earth was finite. As she aged, her face remained unlined and her back unbowed, but her hair gradually turned from raven black to the purest snow white, which color pleased Rin no end. Gradually, her wanderings grew less and less wide-ranging, and she found that her travels never took her very far from the hill upon which Sesshomaru had made his last stand.

Nature had reclaimed much of that sorely mistreated place. The fury of the battle had redirected the course of a river, and cut a valley where none had been before, but aside from an area of grey-brown glass that remained around the hill itself, new life had sprung up all over the land. On the crest of the hill, a tree had sprouted, and it grew proud, tall, and strong. Its flowers were delicate in the spring and its leaves turned red in autumn, but even in the coldest winter it kept its leaves, and sheltered all who rested under it. It turned out to everyone's surprise that Jaken, for all his ineptitude as a stonemason, had quite a gift as a gardener, and in her last years they made a beautiful home on the little green hill. Rin loved to watch Jaken work, and it was his delight to wait upon her, and they passed the days in peace and contentment.

One beautiful spring day, Rin was taking her rest under the tree watching Jaken planting a new bed of flowers. The perfume of the air was sweet, and the flower petals fell like snowflakes in the gentle breezes. Suddenly, she heard Sesshomaru's voice, gently calling to her. "Rin. There is one more journey we must take."

She immediately rose. "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. Jaken!" Jaken looked up from his weeding. "Sesshomaru-sama calls us—it's time to go."

Jaken rubbed his hands together with glee. "Yes, Rin-sama! How delightful!" And soon they were off.

Sesshomaru's directions guided Rin along a smooth road, with something new and lovely at each turn: a pond full of bathing song birds, a meadow of orange lilies, a babbling stream. She walked as much as she could, but rode most of the journey upon Aun's back. She spoke little, but her senses missed nothing, and Jaken's heart was warmed to see her smile so frequently.

Presently the verdant pastures gave way to a treacherous rocky mountain path. "Not much farther now," Sesshomaru's voice told her, and she let Aun fly the rest of the way.

In time they came to a great cavern; Rin dismounted and walked at Jaken's side into the mouth of the cavern, and soon they came to a great stone gate, guarded by two large and terrible stone figures.

Rin and Jaken paused, looking at the stone guardians; then, Rin shrugged her shoulders. "This must be where Sesshomaru-sama wants us to go, so we may as well greet these fine gentlemen." She stepped boldly into the pool of light in front of the gate.

With an ominous creaking, the two stone guardians came to life, and lumbered forward to bar the way. "Who would pass the gate to the next world?" they demanded.

Normally, when someone demanded Rin's name, she answered with a monosyllable or a drawn sword. Today, she sensed, was different. She lay her left hand comfortingly on Toukijin, drew herself up to her full height, and for the first and last time, proclaimed her name and her heritage: "I am Rin, daughter of Sesshomaru: guardian of the Tenseiga and of the soul-sword of the heir of the Inu no Taisho."

The stone guardians knelt before her. "Be welcome, great one; and be welcome the warrior that is in your care." They withdrew, and the great gate opened, and the light of the next world pierced the darkness. Both Jaken and Rin shaded their eyes, for even they, who seen and lived through so much, were afraid of that light.

Sesshomaru's voice filled the cavern. "Jaken. Wait here…Rin. It is time."

Rin knew that anything that Sesshomaru asked her to do, she could do without fear. She straightened her head, and boldly walked over the threshold, through the gate.

There was a flash of light, and Rin was momentarily blinded and disoriented. When her head cleared, she found herself in Sesshomaru's arms, just as she had the first day he had called her back to life with Tenseiga. But unlike the many years they had spent together since the day of the great battle, Sesshomaru was warm, and solid; and he held her with both arms—both arms, even the left arm that he had lost to a battle with his brother that had taken place before he and Rin had ever met.

Rin looked up into Sesshomaru's face and laughed, and then looked down at herself. Her aged body was gone; she had become a child again, just as she was on the day that she and Sesshomaru had first met in the forest.

They both stood up, and Sesshomaru reached down to where Rin had let her swords fall. He tossed them both to Jaken, who stood wide-eyed, unable to speak. "Jaken. Take Tenseiga to Inuyasha, and tell him that it is my wish that as long as he lives, our father's swords are never to be parted again, or set against each other in battle." Jaken nodded fiercely, his eyes filling with tears. "Toukijin I leave in your care. Do not be concerned about it; it will see to itself, and it will choose its own master, who will give it a new name."

Jaken nodded again, mutely. Rin's little girl voice piped cheerily, and it was a sound that Jaken had not realized he had missed so much. "Don't worry about us, Jaken-aniue. When the long night comes, don't be afraid. We'll be waiting for you. Good-bye for now!"

She and Sesshomaru turned and began walking into the light; the great gate slowly began closing. Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder as he walked, and said something that Jaken could never, in his wildest dreams, imagine that he would ever hear: "Jaken. Well done."

And as the great gate closed, the last sight Jaken saw of Sesshomaru and Rin was something he had never seen in all the years they had been together. Rin's little hand reached up and grasped the edge of Sesshomaru's kimono; but his great hand reached down and gently took hers.

And the stone gate closed; and Jaken was alone.

And so Jaken returned to his garden home. He built a little shrine under the tree on the place where Rin used to take her rest, and in it he placed Rin's crescent-moon wristbands and Sesshomaru's stole, which he had found outside the gate to the next world when he retrieved the swords; but he never called it a grave or a memorial. When asked what it was, he would chuckle, and say slyly, "Just a reminder of our days together—after all, why should they have a gravestone when they're not really gone?"

Jaken built another shrine to hold Toukijin, and just as Sesshomaru had said, the sword took care of itself. Only those that were pure in spirit and intention could bear its presence, and it would suffer no one to handle it but Jaken and Kagome. It waits there still, against the day that the proper hand will come to wield it.

In time, Jaken made the journey himself to the cave of the gate, and as they promised, his friends were waiting for him on the other side. The valley in which he and Rin had made their home remained a place of great beauty, and it was a place of rest and refreshment of spirit for any who could bear the aura of its guardian sword. As for the shrine to Rin and Sesshomaru: it never became the place of pomp and pilgrimage that Jaken had envisioned for such a mighty lord and lady; but every year, fresh flowers appeared at the little wooden shrine, placed by the only pilgrim to make the journey and remember the great youkai and the human daughter he adopted as his own: Sesshomaru's brother, Inuyasha.


End file.
